Bemis Co. (BMS) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Investment Research

Bemis Co. (NYSE:BMS) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

According to Zacks, “Bemis’ third-quarter 2016 adjusted earnings per share came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but logged a 12% year over year growth. Bemis lowered its earnings per share guidance for 2016 to the range of $2.65 to $2.70 due to lower volume expectations in the U.S. packaging. Bemis continues to bear the brunt of a flat to declining U.S. packaged food market. Further, the company continues to see headwinds from its new healthcare packaging plant in Oshkosh. The new workforce is not yet skilled and the company expects a lower ramp on productivity than initially expected as it trains its workforce. This will affect the fourth quarter as well. Nevertheless, Bemis’ restructuring program will lead to a saving of $16 million. Bemis has made numerous acquisitions in the past and continues to pursue new deals that can provide meaningful opportunities to grow its business and improve its future performance.”

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BMS. FIX initiated coverage on shares of Bemis in a report on Thursday, July 28th. They set a “reduce” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Group cut their price target on shares of Bemis from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bemis in a report on Tuesday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America Corp. downgraded shares of Bemis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Bemis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.42.

Bemis (NYSE:BMS) opened at 49.30 on Friday. Bemis has a 1-year low of $42.45 and a 1-year high of $54.19. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.47.

Bemis (NYSE:BMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.75. Bemis had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Bemis will post $2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 16th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Bemis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.93%.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bemis by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,363,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,132,000 after buying an additional 210,016 shares during the period. Mairs & Power INC boosted its stake in Bemis by 0.3% in the third quarter. Mairs & Power INC now owns 4,589,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,099,000 after buying an additional 15,855 shares during the period. BlackRock Fund Advisors boosted its stake in Bemis by 4.3% in the third quarter. BlackRock Fund Advisors now owns 3,451,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,038,000 after buying an additional 141,935 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bemis by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,454,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,199,000 after buying an additional 6,373 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bemis during the second quarter valued at about $64,356,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.68% of the company’s stock.

Bemis Company Profile

Bemis Company, Inc is a manufacturer of packaging products. The Company operates through two business segments: U.S. Packaging and Global Packaging. The U.S. Packaging segment represents food, consumer and industrial products packaging-related manufacturing operations in the United States. The U.S. Packaging segment manufactures multilayer polymer, blown and cast film structures to produce packaging sold for food and personal care product applications, as well as non-food applications.